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How Do We Perceive Visual Messages

Korie Williams

Ottawa University

Professor Justin Henning

VISUAL-COMMUNICATION-COM-30563

March 24, 2024

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How do scholars differ in answering the question: how do we perceive visual messages?

Before answering how we perceive visual messages, we must understand what visual

perception is. Visual perception is the ability to understand or interpret our surrounding

environment. There are several factors that go into understanding and interpreting our

surroundings. Colors, associations with an image, and the light around us just to name a few.

Many scholars believe that light and our overall understanding or association of an image can

determine how we perceive visual messages. While others believe with recent research (in

primates) that instead we may perceive images based on early visual activity in our cortical areas

(Fujita, Paradiso, Shimojo, 2001).

Colors are often used to draw our attention to certain images. Colors can also be a way to

make us feel a certain way about an image. Think about how certain colors make us feel. There is

psychology behind the colors we see in certain images, that can help evoke certain emotions.

How we perceive visual messages can be affected by those very colors. In psychology, red is

used to make us feel energized, while blue is used to make us feel calm or relaxed. When looking

at images, those feelings can make us perceive an image differently than if the colors were not

carefully thought about. “Color is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal

action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions. Certain colors have been

associated with physiological changes, including increased blood pressure, increased

metabolism, and eyestrain” (Cherry, 2024).

Light is also a crucial factor in how we perceive images. Thinking back to colors,

depending on the light those colors are under, they can appear differently. So, light becomes a

big part in the overall image impact. How many kinds of light are there? Well, there's natural

light where weather and seasons can affect how the natural light appears. There's artificial light
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which affects how we discern color (Bright Idea, 2024). Because of the diverse ways light works

and affects our visuals, that can also affect how we perceive or are drawn to images. Light

affects how our eyes process images because the way the light hits our eyes can distort or change

the real image. While the various kinds of light make us perceive images differently, the

positioning of light can also affect how we perceive images. “Moving a light source just a few

feet in any direction can dramatically alter an image. For example, positioning a light from

above, pointing down at the subject versus from below, pointing up at the subject will take a

standard sitcom scene and turn it into the makings of a thriller film” (Bright Idea, 2024). The

way light is positioned can also evoke certain emotions and meanings from a simple image.
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Visual messages and images have a lot of factors that go into them to where we can have

some kind of take away when we look at them. Depending on the colors, lights, and overall

message it can change how we perceive images. While there is scientific backing to explain how

we see images there is psychology behind how those images make us feel. Some scholars believe

it is purely scientific, while others argue there are other factors that make up how we perceive

images. The majority seems to lean towards the latter idea of there are varied factors. Although

no one can question or deny that a good advertisement or image makes us walk away feeling

something whether it be good or bad and a lot of that has to do with those previous factors

mentioned above.

References

Cherry, K. (2022, November 29). Color psychology: Does It Affect How You feel? Verywell

Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/color-psychology-2795824

Idea, A. B. (2017, April 27). The language of light: how light alters perception. A. Bright Idea.

https://abrightideaonline.com/buzz/telling-stories-lighting

Interaction Design Foundation. (2017). What is Visual Perception? The Interaction Design

Foundation; UX courses. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/visual-

perception

McLeod, S. (2018). Visual perception | simply psychology. Simplypsychology.org.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/perception-theories.html

‌Shimojo, S., Paradiso, M., & Fujita, I. (2001). What visual perception tells us about mind and

brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(22), 12340–12341.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.221383698
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